‘Let her go, it’s over.’
‘That is my problem. You see, I can’t just let her walk out of here, not now. I never meant to pull Joyce into this, but it happened and now we’re both involved.’
‘She’s not your gran, is she? She’s not old enough.’
‘You’re as good as your aunt told me you were. No, she’s my mother, had me at a ridiculously early age. It was a good job she lived up here with my grandparents, nobody ever knew. Families are complicated, aren’t they?’
He raised his hand, lifting a small, heavy, wooden rounders bat, and was about to swing his arm back towards the side ofScarlett’s skull, when from out of nowhere came a low growl and Shep appeared. He ran at Ernie and sank his teeth into the back of his calf, jolting Ernie forward. He yelled and at the same time released both Scarlett and dropped the bat.
Morgan rushed forward. Pulling the pepper spray out of her pocket, she pushed Scarlett out of the way and blasted Ernie in the eyes, nose and mouth until the entire can was emptied into his face. He fell to his knees howling. Shep let go and limped over to Amos, lying across his master’s legs.
Morgan didn’t waste a second. She kicked the bat away from Ernie and was grabbing his arms, cuffing them the best she could. He tried to push her off but failed as he was too busy trying to rub at his eyes.
‘Morgan,’ Cain’s voice echoed through the tunnel, and she felt such a wave of relief she almost sank to her knees and cried.
Scarlett was whimpering, and Morgan gently took hold of her, rocking her and patting her back. ‘It’s okay, you’re okay, sweetie.’
Cain appeared, out of breath, red-faced, took one look at the guy on the floor howling in pain and nodded in approval.
‘You had me worried there. Good job, Brookes. I have bad news though; Ben has just arrived and is about to come running in here any minute.’
‘How did he know?’
‘I texted him earlier. I had a feeling things might go a little tits up.’
‘I thought Joyce shot you. I was so scared.’
‘Aw, you were? No, I wrestled the gun from her hands, and it went off. She’s okay though, currently cuffed to the back of a chair and cursing like a navvy.’
She smiled at him. ‘Amos doesn’t look too good. Are paramedics on the way because Scarlett is injured too, but she’s okay, aren’t you, Scarlett?’
Scarlett nodded. ‘I think so.’
‘Morgan, Cain,’ Ben’s voice echoed towards them.
Cain smiled. ‘Sorry about this.’
Ben appeared at the entrance to the room, his face ashen as he took in the carnage. ‘What on earth?’
‘Amos needs paramedics ASAP, so does Scarlett.’
She was kneeling next to Amos. She gently patted Shep’s head. ‘You are a very good boy, well done.’
Shep looked at her, and she felt her heart melt. Dogs were so amazing.
‘I don’t know how safe this tunnel is, all of us down here might be making it dangerous.’
Ben nodded. Between them, he and Cain dragged Ernie to his feet, Cain in the lead, Ben behind. They pushed him out of the room and down the tunnel.
‘Are you okay to follow them, Scarlett, do you need help?’
‘I’m scared, can I wait for you?’
‘If you think you can hang on.’
‘I feel so bad, he came in from the other side, and I thought he was the creep who had put us in here and killed my friends. I did that to him and I’m so sorry. Janey kicked his leg off too.’
Morgan squeezed Scarlett’s hands. ‘You weren’t to know, you thought he was the killer. You were protecting yourself.’
